


Not the Final Dance

by IvyCoveredWalls (orphan_account)



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ballet, Alternate Universe - Dance, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Recovery, Sad and Happy, Soft Andrew Minyard, Soft Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-12-23 20:02:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21087014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/IvyCoveredWalls
Summary: Andrew returns to dance after a relapse and a stint in a mental health facility.





	Not the Final Dance

**Author's Note:**

> TW: lightly referenced reference to self-harm
> 
> Please take care of yourself. 
> 
> This is mostly self indulgent recovery fluff.

Andrew took a shuddering breath and slowly began his warm up stretches. He hadn't worn pointe shoes in months. Not since he went to the inpatient facility. It hurt, but a lot of things hurt in life. No matter how much he insisted he hated it, dance was the thing Andrew refused to give up. He moved through the positions, a little shaky at first, but muscle memory picked up where time and lack of practice left off. 

He hadn't seen Neil or Kevin since he got back. When the studio door creaked open he was expecting Renee, or Nicky, or maybe Aaron. Instead Neil walked in, dressed for practice, surprising to no one. The Junkie loved dance almost as much as he loved his secrets. Neil had been a puzzle when he arrived and it drove Andrew nuts. He popped up out of the blue and made Andrew feel things he didn't want to feel. 

Andrew didn't say hello. He stood by the bar and waited for Neil to lace up his shoes. Neil did so in silence as well. He for Neil to finish stretching before addressing him. 

"Long time no see."

"Kevin was nervous about you getting back."

Translation: 'I was helping him through an anxiety attack.'

"Why?"

"He didn't know if you'd be okay. If you'd be sick, or angry, or unresponsive."

Andrew hummed softly. 

"We've been through it before."

"You had to take those drugs Andrew. Because those court bastards thought nothing of hopping a young kid up on addictive drugs."

He didn't say that Andrew being sent away to the inpatient facility had been something Andrew did to himself. He wouldn't technically be wrong if he had though. 

Bee's voice rang in Andrew's head.

'Relapse is a normal part of recovery. It's hard, but you just have to keep going.'

Relapse. So far along, and it still happened. Andrew couldn't change that it happened. That it scared everyone. He could only keep trying to get better. 

"Do you want to dance Junkie?"

The steps were at once familiar and shaky. But with more time and work Andrew would get better. He smiled softly at the concentrated expression Neil took on when Andrew lifted him up.


End file.
